Rachel + Dustin know a thing or two about throwing a bright, modern, big family dinner party wedding, which isn’t surprising if you know Rachel through her thoughtful, crafty blog, Heart of Light. Using lots of movement, turquoise, coral and yellow, they were able to incorporate some of Dustin’s Mexican heritage without going too literal and making it look themed. Modern invitations, the prettiest paper flowers, an incredible streamer backdrop, terrarium centerpieces, and a gourmet food truck – sounds amazing, looks amazing, and we’re so excited to share it with you!

Our wedding was a completely collaborative effort. I always knew that Dustin would be on board and interested in all the design aspects (there are advantages to marrying an architect!). The hardest part was restraining ourselves from diving into half baked projects. We made ourselves sit down and design the invitations first, because we wanted everything to feel cohesive and felt it should start with the paper. From there we discussed an overall look for the venue and decided which projects would be worth our time. We ended up with just a few really big projects and a small handful of smaller easy ones.

We started by separately pulling images from various blogs, and then examining them together and discussing why we liked different aspects of photos. We talked about how we wanted our wedding to feel (inclusive, big family dinner party, fun) and look (bright, playful, modern). We kept things fairly open until we found a venue that worked for us (the venue search was the hardest part of planning, hands down) and then solidified our ideas.

If only we knew how Rachel made this amazing streamer backdrop…just teasing! Come back tomorrow to check out her DIY tutorial. It’s actually pretty darn easy. Or for those of you who aren’t interested in getting familiar with a glue gun, you can buy Rachel and Dustin’s in our Marketplace!

We both love working on projects, so we knew we were going to want to get creative. But we also both work full time and we have a lot of family commitments. We decided to maximize our efforts by allowing ourselves to choose a few well planned, high impact projects. Everything else would be kept as simple as possible and with an eye to logistics.

If you’re dying over these napkins like we are, just wait until tomorrow’s post when Rachel shares her DIY tutorial. Or get lucky and buy the entire set in the marketplace! AND she made those pretty flowers too.

We’re not done with this wedding yet. Stay tuned for more posts this week as Rachel shares a few DIY tutorials + her tips on budgeting and planning a DIY wedding. You can also follow along on Heart of Light as Rachel posts about the craziness leading up to the wedding, how she did her own hair and make-up, designing the dessert buffet, and their photobooth details.

Karrie – I used Jordan’s tutorial as well! Don’t worry – the tutorial I’ve made will link to it, so she definitely gets credited, but it’s mostly about assembling the backdrops so that they can be made ahead of time, stored and transported.

The shrug is by Alice + Olivia, but it’s no longer sold. : ( I bought it last holiday season, though, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they come out with a new version for this year. This is definitely the time of year to be shopping for sequined, sparkly things!

I have been in love with Rachel and her blog for about two years now and I was so excited to hear that she got engaged and then…more excited when she blogged that she was planning to DIY most of it. Excitement plus much to my boyfriend’s chagrin. I have been anxiously waiting for the wedding posts to arrive and they are finally here and I know, I really now know deep down inside that when I get married I will be doing the exact same thing by creating most of those special touches. Thanks Rachel. You’re made me realise that a little crafty can go a long way. Oh, and you look amazing as always! x

Aw, thanks April! That’s so sweet of you. Annnnd, there will be a bit of DIY logistics information posted, so be on the lookout for that. I’m a huge fan of DIY but also will really strongly encourage you to realize that you can’t do EVERYTHING. xo

@ The Pink Peony – There will be a flower tutorial over at Heart of Light this week!

@ Amanda – Ha! I should probably sell the cake plates, but they’re actually my personal collection. I didn’t have to buy a single one for the wedding, which probably just shows how big an addiction I have. I am considering renting them out, so that they’ll get a bit more use, but that would only work for local events.

@ Shiri – I semi-made my headband. I purchased (ridiculously expensive but so lovely) crystal trim and then just added a bit of elastic at the bottom to make it a headband. I originally thought I would use the trim for a belt, but my rib cage is not my narrowest area, so adding sparkles there ended up looking a bit strange.

@ Rumy – You’re right! Sorry if I didn’t make that clear in the post – Vanilla made all our cakes and I made the cookies. We love Vanilla and even gave them a shout out on our dessert menu, but it’s kind of hard to read the print on the pictures! Here is the detailed post about how we put together the dessert buffet, along with the cost breakdown. We ordered off their standard menu rather than doing a custom wedding cake, which was great because it meant we didn’t have to place the order until the week of our wedding, so we could adjust it for the number of guests who actually RSVPed.

We’re so sorry Jessica! We assure you you’re not going cray. There’s actually not a DIY tutorial for these flowers. But, you’ve given us a great idea to possibly get one started. Stay tuned, and we’ll be in touch if we create a tutorial for these flowers.

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